Yes! Faculty should always keep disability-related information confidential. For many students with disabilities, disclosure of their disability is a very personal and sensitive matter. You can always contact the student's DSS Advisor if there are any questions, issues, or concerns. Inappropriate disclosure of disability information must be avoided.
No. SSU has designated the DSS office as the repository of all disability documentation for students with disabilities. Documentation stating and describing a student's disability is confidential information. Recognize that most students feel very vulnerable in disclosing their accommodation needs to faculty.
While faculty may be able to surmise the condition on the basis of the accommodations, probing for disability information is inappropriate.
Yes, if such accommodations are set forth in the student's Accommodation Letter from DSS (see related FAQs below). The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the ADA Amendments Act protect students with disabilities. These laws require that qualified students with disabilities must have equal access to an education, including exam accommodations.
Related FAQs
Yes. Academic adjustments listed in the student’s Accommodation Letter are open for negotiation. You can and should bring your concerns about specific accommodations to the DSS Advisor working with your student. It may be that a different accommodation would be better suited to your particular course and the DSS Advisor can help develop the alternative.
If a student asks for an accommodation but does not deliver an Accommodation Letter from DSS verifying eligibility for academic adjustments, it is strongly recommended that you contact DSS or direct the student to contact DSS. Similarly, if a student asks you for an accommodation, and that specific accommodation is not listed in the letter from DSS, you are not obligated to provide it. To reiterate, you are urged not to seek to arrange by yourself accommodations for the student; refer him or her instead to DSS.
If a student requests accommodations, you may ask the student to provide you with an Accommodation Letter from DSS verifying that they have a disability. You may ask the student to provide you with an Accommodation Letter from DSS verifying that he or she has a disability. The student, if registered with DSS and after providing documentation that DSS determines supports the accommodation, is provided with a letter that details the required accommodations to which they are entitled so long as they do not fundamentally alter an essential component of your course.
The first thing to determine is whether the student has an Accommodation Letter setting forth the accommodations recommended by the DSS office. If the student does not have such a letter, do not seek to arrange accommodations with the student yourself; refer him or her immediately to the DSS office.
DSS encourages, but cannot require, registered students to provide instructors with their Accommodation Letter at the beginning of each semester. A student can register with DSS or present their Accommodation Letter to faculty at any time during the semester. It is important to understand that accommodations are not retroactive, so students cannot retake exams prior to when accommodations were not in place. Accommodations begin at the point the student has provided faculty with their accommodation letter.
